Star Citizen test footage shows AI pilots in action

Star Citizen is still a good two years away, well before the time a traditionally funded release would be shown to the public, but Roberts Space Industries has released a sliver of in-game footage anyway.

Responding to backer requests, RSI published the snippet of video below, noting that the game is a good year even from its initial alpha build, and is still looking very rough.

“The laser effects, explosions are all placeholders and there will be significant work done here,” a blog post said, noting that the final graphical goal is to utilise the full power of DirectX 11 and modern PCs.

The AI which is the actual tech on show is looking good, though – all the dogfighting you see here is AI-driven, not directed or player-controlled. Creator Chris Roberts hopes to provide the “most sophisticated AI ” he’s ever attempted, with “distinct personalities, dynamic learning, signature moves” powered by modern CPUs.

“We’re a long way off from the final article, but as you can see from the video AI can already fly in formation, respond to commands and engage in combat,” he said.

“As things progress we’ll have much nicer implementation of third a person chase and orbit cameras to show off the action better. In an ordinary game’s development cycle, this would be something we would share internally or with the publisher, but we’re showing our backers instead, since you’re the ones making Star Citizen happen.”

Star Citizen has five days left of its crowd funding campaign; visit Kickstarter or RSI central for more information. It has so far raised over $3.4 million from more than 50,000 backers.